title: “Rotters and Models” subtitle: “Bioinformatics in Microbial Plant Pathology” author: “Leighton Pritchard” date: “28/02/2018” output: ioslides_presentation: css: includes/custom.css font-family: ‘Helvetica’ widescreen: True runtime: shiny —

1. The James Hutton Institute

The James Hutton Institute

  • formed from Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) and Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (MLURI) in 2011
  • main sites: Dundee, Aberdeen
  • also: Glenshaugh, Balruddery, Hartwood
  • oversees Biomathematics and Biostatistics Scotland (BioSS)
  • University of Dundee Division of Plant Sciences based at Dundee site
  • applied focus (policy)

ICS Hutton

Twitter: @huttonics

2. Plant-Pathogen Interactions

A Global Challenge

  • feed 9.2bn people (86% in developing world) by 2050
  • double food production in 50yr
  • food losses to pathogens:
    • 10-25% of planted crops
    • 10% of post-harvest crops
    • (enough to feed >2bn people, 2kcal/day)
  • pathogens moving polewards
  • severe threats to ecosystem services


Challenges in Scotland

  • food security
    • burden, cost of crop disease
    • emerging pathogens (imports, climate change)
  • environmental sustainability
    • pesticide minimisation, withdrawal
    • durable resistance via breeding (and/or GM)
  • £308m cereals
  • £258m other crops (£171m potatoes)
  • £264m horticulture




Key Potato Pathogens

Soft rot enterobacteria

  • Pectobacterium spp., Dickeya spp., Erwinia spp.
  • many species, host ranges
  • plant cell wall degrading enzymes
  • rots plants in field, tubers in storage
  • €30m/yr losses in Netherlands
  • P. atrosepticum main cause of blackleg in Scotland
  • D. solani recently emerged, very aggressive

Potato late blight

  • Phytophthora infestans
  • Global problem
  • estimated $6bn/yr cost worldwide
  • UK costs ≈£55m/yr in losses, ≈£70m/yr in control
  • requires frequent pesticide application (incl. for organics)
  • (related spp. cause extensive damage to trees: larch, oak, juniper)

How do pathogens infect?

How do pathogens infect?

The mechanics are complex: systems-level approaches required